


Time Travellers

by LissMels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fred and George, Gen, Headcanon, Time Turner, Weasley twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-06 02:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8732038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LissMels/pseuds/LissMels
Summary: George Weasley goes back in time to save his brother's life, and discovers the unknown secret about his brother's actual death. In the end, a price must be paid.





	1. Desperate

This place brought many memories to George's mind. Too many. His brother had died here. His twin brother, Fred. That was one thing George would never get over. Both Fred and George had been fine. Well, if you could call fighting for your life fine, that is. But they had been separated, and Fred was left to fight alongside Percy. Then the explosion happened, and the remaining Weasleys broke down in tears over Fred's death. 

The memories came flashing back to George, and he felt his temper rise. The wizarding world hadn't been peaceful in several years, and he'd lost his twin brother as a result. None of the Weasleys had been the same since, especially not Molly. George couldn't help but blame himself, somehow. After all, he was much closer to Fred than anyone. He thought of all the things he could have done differently, and was sure that he could have prevented his brother's death, one way or another. 

George kicked a large rock angrily, swearing under his breath as he realized the massive pain it had caused his toe. Nor did it decrease his anger - not the slightest. If anything, it got worse. 

But then he saw it; something blank of metal surface lying in the ruins. 

 _It's a galleon_ , he thought, almost brushing it off, but on a second thought, it didn't at all look like one. 

Curiosity won him over, and he figured that he wanted to have a closer look at the item. As he got closer, he noticed that it was attached to a chain. 

 _A necklace_ , George thought as he picked it up and held it before his eyes to look at. His eyes widened; he had heard about these before, but never seen one himself; it was a _time turner_. 

At that moment, he was not quite sure what came over him. Perhaps the desperation had driven him insane for a brief moment. Anyhow, he smiled for himself, thinking of the time turner's abilities. He knew very well that time was not something to fiddle with, but he found himself willing to risk it. After all, a time turner could give him a second chance. 

Did he know how Time Turners worked? Partly, yes. He was not even supposed to know about them, but Fred and himself had their methods of finding interesting information. George did not know a lot about the magical tool, but he knew enough to send himself back in time. One only had to put it on and turn it, right? 

Before allowing himself to reconsider, or even as much as _think_ of the risk he was about to take, he pulled the chain over his head and spun the turner. Was it a good idea? Probably not, but George had always been a reckless young man. He'd always loved pushing the limits, only this time he had an actual purpose to do so. He spun and spun, without counting, and watched the world around him backing up at a quick pace. It had worked. 

George felt a sudden rush of hope. Thanks to this, he could save Fred. No, he _would_ save him. Everything was going to be different. George was going to make sure that his twin brother survived this battle, no matter the cost. It was not like there was much to lose, anyway. George hadn't counted the spins of the time turner, but could easily tell that he had gone way back in time. As his surroundings stilled, he stood in Hogwarts. Not the Hogwarts ruins – the actual castle. It was not as cozy as ever, but still good old Hogwarts... Only empty... Where were everyone? 

"What are you waiting for?" A female voice said in the distance. "Someone grab him!" George only had to think twice to recognize that voice - and that line. It was that Slytherin girl in Ron's year – Pansy. George recalled the memory, and realized soon enough that everyone had gathered in the Great Hall. 

George made his way towards the voices, and shortly after, wizards and witches emerged from the Great Hall. This was the part where Voldemort gave them an hour deadline to hand over Harry, was it not? So George had one hour to find Fred and save him. He could feel the nerves and adrenaline pumping inside of him, as if he'd have to fight the whole battle over again. 

George half regretted his decision by now. Time was not something to fiddle with - the longest successful time travel known was five hours – the chances of George returning to his original self were as good as none. 

George smiled for himself, but this time, not in a good way. He shook his head, internally taunting himself for being so dumb. He would not return to his original self after this - he had as good as no chance of it. He had really done it this time, had he not? 

A whole stream of people exited the Great Hall, all at once. George had a hard time scanning the crowd for his twin brother. The first redhead he saw was his youngest brother, Ron, and then came Ginny. For a brief moment, George was worried that he might have missed the other Weasleys, but at last, he spotted Fred and himself leaving the Great Hall. 

He'd never been this happy to see someone in his entire life; Fred was right there, alive as ever. Naturally, they both wore a haunting look in their eyes, but George did not have to question this. He remembered all too well how it felt back then, not knowing how things would end. The only difference now was that he knew what was going to happen. Hopefully, saving Fred would not affect the battle results. The good side would win eventually, right? 

He had almost lost sight of Fred and his past self as he snapped back to reality. All he had to do now, was to follow them. The amount of people, though, could quickly become a problem. George found that the situation appeared more serious now, being back in the battlefield. A tiny change could mess up everything, and George did _really_ just have _one_ chance to change something. Because if one single thing changed, it would affect _everything_. 

As if someone had just hit him in the head, he remembered where the original twins were heading; the Astronomy Tower. Everything had been such a fuss, and they had just wanted to get away from it all. For all that they knew back then, it could be their very last moment of peace. For Fred, it had been. 

George pulled his wand out, getting ready to cast any spell, as he noticed people heading his way. George threw himself at the wall as he saw this, holding his breath and not daring to move a muscle. Lavender Brown and the Patil twins hurried past him, not even noticing that he was there. That was a close one - he had to be more careful. 

More people were approaching. George could not stay there forever - he had to hide somewhere. In a hurry, he slipped around the corner and skidded along the wall, thinking hard of possible methods to solve this problem. 

First things first; he had to get to the Astronomy Tower unseen. 

While the path was still clear, George hurried up a staircase to the 1st floor. There were people running about in the halls, some people seemingly having panic attacks while others were trying to calm them down. They all looked haunted and traumatized by the horror that soon would hit them. 

George had no chance of sneaking past these people, and therefore, he climbed another staircase to the 2nd floor. Here he found Kingsley Shacklebolt and Lupin discussing battle strategy, and Dean Thomas right at their heels. They were walking at a quick pace along the corridor - seemingly heading towards the Astronomy Tower, as well. 

In order to remain unseen, George had to get up there before them, and so he climbed to the 3rd floor. Luckily, this floor was currently empty. George did not allow any time to be wasted, and ran immediately down the corridor towards the Grand Staircase. 

Footsteps were heard as soon as he entered the moving stairs. They were coming from above, and for a moment, George was unsure whether he should hide or not. He quickly looked up and watched someone's heels in the process of running, though he could not make out who it was. 

After stopping for a brief moment, George decided it was safe to follow the running wizard up the Grand Staircase. After just a few careful steps, he internally confirmed that the coast was clear, and sped up with wary. 

George reached the top of the Grand Staircase, and despite seeing someone run up before him, he entered the door to find himself alone. He stood there, looking straight ahead at the giant clock and the darkness behind it. All he could hear was the constant chaos coming from students on the grounds. Other than that, the air was silent. It struck George as odd to find someone in such a hurry as to sprint up towards the Astronomy Tower as a first intention. Most people seemed rather calm in the situation, and those in panic grouped up. George feared for a brief moment that this was a person who did not want to die by the hand of a death eater, and perhaps lacked the courage to face them at all. An individual who thought it better to die by choice than by force. 

George's heart sank as he thought of this, hoping that he was wrong. He quickly shook it, however, figuring that he had more important things to think of, such as where to hide. His heart was pounding in the current situation, and he could almost _feel_ the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Never had he put himself in such a situation, and to do so alone? He felt like an idiot at this point, but internally prayed to Merlin that he would get something good out of it. 

Voices were approaching him from the Grand Staircase, and George stumbled over to the Astronomy Tower's stair entrance. He looked around the corner to see Kingsley Shackerbolt and Lupin approaching, Dean Thomas still at their heels for assistance. He eyed them carefully while they were finishing their battle strategy, seemingly coming down to a reasonable solution. 

George was deeply startled when suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned around in an instant, and held his breath while processing who stood before him. He clearly felt his eyes widening and his face draining from color as he realized that the person he stood face to face with, was none other than his own twin brother, Fred. But what shocked George the most was that he, also, had a time turner.


	2. Carpe Retractum

George did not understand how this could be. Fred was holding up a Time Turner, identical to George's, as if it was an ID badge. George was left speechless, not knowing what question to ask first. 

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked, but the other boy was so puzzled that he could not make out an answer in that instant. What was Fred doing with a time turner? He had _died_ , he could not have possibly gone back in time. 

Fred pulled the speechless twin with him to seek cover behind the Astronomy Staircase. He peeked around the corner, keeping an eye on the approaching wizards. 

"How can _you_ be here?" George asked, whispering, but received no response at first. 

"Tell Professor McGonagall Remus and I will handle this side of the castle." It was Kingsley who spoke, having made a plan on how to protect the castle. 

"Yes, sir," Dean replied, halting to a stop. 

Kingsley looked up towards the skies, and added, "Indeed, on second thoughts, tell Professor McGonagall we might need one or two more wands on this side." The twins were eyeing the three wizards carefully, and as Dean Thomas turned to further deliver Kingsley's message, two additional wizards were approaching; Fred and George's past selves. 

Both Fred and George pulled their heads back to remain unseen by their past selves, and waited for them to climb the stairs before continuing any interaction they had started. 

"Are you going to talk or not?" Fred asked, raising his eyebrows. "I should probably assume you are a Death Eater, but that would not make sense, so..." His eyebrows remained raised, indicating that he waited for a response from the other. 

"I'm not a Death Eater," George confirmed, frowning. "I literally just came back to save you from dying in–" 

"Save _me_?" Fred interrupted, sounding surprised, shaking his head carefully. There was a pause, and Fred placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, staring at him as if he was an idiot. "Georgie, I came back to save _you_." 

"That is not possible" George started, not sure if he believed his brother or not. "I _survived_ the battle, what would you need to save _me_ from?" 

"Rookwood," the other twin simply said, looking George dead in the eyes, for once. 

After a short moment of thought, George actually found himself believing this, for he could recall being cornered by Rookwood and disarmed. He had been sure that his time had come, and that he was going to die there and then, but he had been wrong - someone had saved him, though he did not know who - not until now. There were so many people participating in the war that George had not given it a proper thought. He just so _happened_ to be saved - or so he thought. 

"So you mean to say that where you come from, Rookwood _killed_ me?" Fred nodded carefully, and left room for a few seconds of silence where they were both looking at the ground while in the process of thought. Bad memories flooded George's mind, and he could only guess that the same was happening to the other's - assuming he was telling the truth, that is. 

"Nothing was the same without you, brother," Fred finally spoke, giving his brother a little pat on the shoulder. He was probably trying to light up the mood, but it did not work. However, George smiled anyway, for the sake of pleasing his originally dead brother. 

"I see, but with me alive, you die," George informed him very clearly. 

"Yeah, I worked that much out myself, thank you very much." Fred always used to joke around when he was nervous. As silence struck once again, George chose to play safe and confirm his twin's identity. 

"So if you are really Fred, tell me something only we know." At this, Fred smiled widely, and George knew immediately that a fun memory was about to be brought up. 

"Ah, that is an easy one," the other smiled, shaking his head. "According to the Marauder's Map, little Ronnikins slept with a fella named Peter Pettigrew for a whole three years." George started smiling too, reminding himself of all the inside jokes the twins had about this in particular. 

"Yeah, we always thought he was a little bit homosexual–" 

"–but then he started dating Lavender Brown–" 

"–and then Granger." The twins laughed despite the chaotic background noises. They had learnt to block them out by now, and honestly, George just found it nice to finally joke around with his clone, something he thought would never happen again. 

As the air erupted into thundering noises, they heard Shacklebolt giving a final pep talk to his fellow wizards. This was a sign that it was time, soon. 

"So," Fred started. "How did I die?" 

"An explosion." George did not hesitate to answer this, as his twin deserved to know. However the other responded by raising his eyebrows, unimpressed. 

"Awe, that doesn't sound very heroic," he complained, but George had seen the situation very differently. He had lived to see his lifeless brother, and he would never say that it was for nothing. It almost angered him to hear someone accuse Fred's death of being cowardly, even though it was Fred himself. 

"You died a fighter," George insisted. "You did not flee like others would. Besides, it would not had happened if you just let me be." At this, Fred's expression calmed, and he looked rather sad. 

"Maybe, but I would not want that," the twin spoke rather carefully, frowning at his clone. "Nobody could really understand. We are _identical –_ I cannot look myself in the mirror without being reminded. We have grown up as one because nobody bothered to seperate us, and then suddenly I'm all alone and I don't know how to handle it." George felt his stomach sink, and memories of how it felt to suddenly be left alone, without Fred, came crashing back. It cannot have been any better for Fred than himself. They had both been through the same situation, and they had both been as desperate as the other to fix it. In other words, they were equally stupid. 

In the next moment, the amount of chaos seemed to be tripled by the sound of a large explosion. 

"The protective charm has been broken," they heard Shacklebolt announce to his fellow wizards, and Fred and George knew that all hell would break loose at those words. They heard someone running down the stairs above them, and their past selves appeared in their vision during the next couple of seconds. Their father and Tonks had joined Shackerbolt and Lupin, and the four of them had voluntarily taken upon the task of protecting that side of the castle. Fred and George's past selves ran past them partly unnoticed, however their time-travelling selves were afraid it might trigger suspicion to follow. 

"Better use the disillusionment charm to get past these folks," Fred said, whipping out his wand. "I'll go for you, and you go for me." 

"Alright, _mother_ ," George replied ironically, reminding himself that it might, once again, be the last time to share a joke with his brother. 

Fred started twirling his wand around himself, eyeing the floor while doing so, and George copied him. This would not be the first time they were using this charm, as they were used to testing various spells and charms for development of the joke shop's items. The charm would make them blend in with their surroundings, just like a chameleon would, which was necessary in their current situation. 

Soon enough, George could no longer see his brother, as he blended in perfectly to his surroundings. George looked down on himself to confirm that he, too, had cast the charm successfully, in which he had. 

The two of them followed their past selves, not speaking to each other while doing so (for the very obvious reason that they could not see each other too easily). George found it quite horrific to only be lurking about in the castle and not do anything to help out. It was not exactly a walk in the park, as George almost got killed multiple times from curses flying between walls. 

Fred and George's past selves had teamed up with Percy when they got attacked by three Death Eaters, and this is what had separated them. Fred and Percy happened to have a shared target, while George were forced to flee down a corridor in order to survive, being overwhelmed by his two attackers. The two remaining Weasleys had stunned their target as they skidded along the corridor to assist George in his battle. 

"Georgie!" Fred yelled after him, however curses were thrown in their direction within the next moment. "Oh, bloody hell, we've got company," Fred warned and nearly stumbled off his feet while trying to change directions, and at the same time focusing on not getting killed. 

"What about George?" Percy asked, sounding distressed. 

"If he doesn't make it, I'll change my name to Gred." This was obviously intended as a joke, and George (the time-travelling one) grinned for himself. He followed his past brothers and the Death Eaters around a corner, struggling to keep up, as they were literally running for their lives. He had his wand ready, and went through every usable spell that he could think of, knowing that the explosion could happen at any given moment. 

He had to duck to avoid a jinx that Fred has casted, and noticed soon enough that both redheads had stepped into combat. Spells were flying in both directions, and the Weasley boys seemed to struggle as they backed further up the corridor, constantly dodging stunning spells and killing curses. 

As they approached the corridor for the Room of Requirement, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had stumbled upon the scene, and joined the two redheads. As the five stood crowded together, a jinx was thrown perfectly at one of the hooded men, transfiguring him into a chicken (which honestly, based on the humor of it, had to be Fred's doing). The man dueling Percy backed off, quickly, and his hood slipped in the process, revealing his identity; It was Pius Thicknesse. 

“Hello, Minister!” bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. “Did I mention I’m resigning?” 

“You’re joking, Perce!” shouted Fred as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee. 

“You actually _are_ joking, Perce... I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were–” Fred was cut off as the air exploded, and George jumped right into action, whipping his wand in Fred's direction. 

" _Carpe_ _Retractum_ ," he spoke in a hurry, and a golden orange light erupted from the tip of his wand, seizing hold of Fred and pulling him towards the caster, away from the flying rocks that would otherwise had crushed him. Screams and yells were heard from his brother's companions, and just as Fred was falling towards him, George himself was watching the scene in slow motion, realizing that Fred was no longer there to catch the rocks and possibly save the lives of the other four. He watched as the rocks knocked them over with great force, filling the air with dust and darkness, and proceeded to crush into the wall behind them. 

Fred looked around, pointing with his wand, probably expecting to see another opponent wanting to kill him. George was sure that the disillusionment charm still had him covered, but when he looked down, he was shocked to discovered that he was as visible as any. But the most odd part about this was that Fred, on the other hand, did not appear to see a trace of him. 

Someone let out a terrible cry that pulled on George's insides, and Fred sprinted the short distance back into the dust-filled air where they had been standing only moments earlier. He called after his brothers, his voice filled with worry, and the lack of conversation that followed, confirmed that something had gone terribly wrong. 

George dropped his wand, though he had not intend to, and was left feeling empty inside. He realized that there was not a _single_ _thing_ that he could do to prevent what was happening before him – not anymore. His brother had not seen him, despite the charm having worn off, and George knew what this meant; He was no longer physically there.


	3. Guilty

Fred looked around quickly from where he was lying, expecting to see a Death Eater ready to kill him on the spot. He did not understand what had happened, or how he could have been thrown down the corridor like this, when clearly, there was nobody there. He started out puzzled, but then he heard a heart-shattering cry, and the horror of what had happened struck him. When turning, he saw the rocks piled up before him, dust floating around in the air, and his heart sunk as he realized that his family members could be buried underneath. 

"Ron! Percy!" He yelled, stumbling to his feet in order to run over to the scene. He almost did not want to, knowing that there could be great horror awaiting, however he knew of nothing else to do. Fred told himself over and over that nobody had died in the scene - they could not had. He blocked out the cries and words of despair, refusing to allow someone this close to him to become death's victim. _This is not happening_ , he had convinced himself, however as he halted to a stop and sank to his knees, the truth was forced down his throat, and he could no longer hold back the tears. 

"Perce," he said, his voice and hands trembling as he reached forward to shake his brother awake, receiving no response. Fred kept repeating the word ' _no'_ over and over in his head, though it did not at all calm him. He swore under his breath, tightly clutching the fabric of his older brother's clothing and trying to suppress the pain and guilt he was feeling. Ron was kneeling by the boy's head, face drained from color and a stream of tears causing wet tracks form their way down his face. His eyes were bloodshot red, and the two redheads exchanged a short, trembling glance before Fred completely lost it. "PERCY!" He finally yelled, his voice cracking, while jerking the lifeless body in front of him and praying to Merlin that he would wake up. 

Everything came crashing down on Fred at that moment, and his heart ached worse than ever. He would never be able to apologize for those things he had said to his brother. All those achievements himself and George would make fun of him for, and all those times they made a fool out of him. And even despite of being overlooked and _bullied_ by his own brothers, he had returned to fight for them in the war. And now suddenly, he was lying on the ground, bloody and lifeless, his body half buried in rocks. In full honesty, what did he ever do to deserve this faith? And what could Fred ever do to make it up to him? 

Fred was startled out of his grieving as a body fell past the hole blown into the side of the castle, and curses flew in at them from the darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads. 

"Get down!" Harry shouted, and himself and Ron had both grabbed Hermione to pull her down to the floor. Fred looked over to where the curses were thrown from, and whipped his wand out. "Come on, we've got to move!" Harry cried out. Hermione screamed as a monstrous spider the size of a small car appeared in the hole in the wall. 

"Fred?" Ron tried, noticing that Fred had not yet moved from his spot despite the spider approaching them. He got to his feet, just as Ron as Harry yelled together and their spells collided, the monster being thrown backward and vanished into the darkness. 

"It brought friends!" Harry called as more giant spiders emerged through the hole in the wall. Him and Hermione backed away slightly, readying themselves to run from the scene as soon as possible.  

"Fred, come on!" Ron commanded, seizing his brother by the shoulders and trying to pull him along. Fred staggered a few steps, allowing Ron to follow his two friends, but looking down on his lifeless brother, he hesitated. He was torn between wanting to run and wanting to show his brother some respect, for once in his life – he wanted to save the body, and protect it from further harm, and he did not think he could ever have the heart to abandon him there on the cold, hard floor. Metaphorically, it was exactly what he had done all his life – left him to rot in the darkest and coldest of places – and he could not do that again. But as Ron yelled back at him, pleading and begging for him to use his head, he felt like he had no other choice than to help the brother he still had. 

Fred inhaled deeply, and shut his eyes, trying his best to suppress what he was feeling in that particular moment. Next, another burst of tears and a silent sob escaped Fred as he ran after the trio, abandoning his lost family member. He did not look back. 

***** 

It was nearly four in the morning, and the deathly stillness of the grounds felt as though they were holding their breath. Percy was lying on the floor of the Great Hall, just as other casualties did. There was no questioning that everyone was hurting. People were moving around, trying to comfort each other, drinking, kneeling beside the dead. 

The Weasleys had gathered around Percy's body, grieving their precious loss, hugging each other and crying together. Molly was clinging onto her son, nearly choking with heart-shattering sobs. Arthur held his arm around her, stroking her back and offering as much support as he was capable of giving. Ron and Hermione were hugging, Hermione giving her boyfriend words of support and reminding him of what they still had left to fight for. The rest of the family stood in silence, watching their mother, and grieving their lost family member. 

In this painful situation, the twins felt claustrophobic within themselves, as they had never really experienced losing someone – especially not like this. After watching their mother in her grieving state for a while, Fred and George decided to go out to get some fresh air. They went in complete, almost cold silence, not speaking until they had settled down on the entrance stairs. A few more seconds were left silent, for the sake of clearing their minds, until one twin decided to speak. 

"He'd just come back," George spoke, carefully, and weakly, almost to himself. "He'd just gathered the guts to come back and fight for his family, everything was going to be fine again, and not..." He trailed off, his voice cracking before the tears ran down his cheeks once again. He pressed his lips together, frowning, trying to hold it all back. 

"I think we went too far on him," Fred admitted, and the memory of how he had witnessed his brother's death haunted his memory. George knew exactly what his brother was talking about, and he agreed. "All the jokes and pranks and all, they were all just for fun, but we never actually..." Fred trailed off, too, noticing that his brother was still crying, deeply in pain. It was triggering himself, as well. George tried pulling himself together, though he was only left feeling nauseated. George tried pulling himself together, though he was only left feeling nauseated. It truly did feel like it was all their fault, how people had seen Percy as the _least favorite_ among the Weasleys. "We never actually thought of how he felt," Fred continued, swallowing the pain as he realized the impact they had had on their brother's life. All those achievements they would make fun of – him being Prefect and Head Boy, his good grades, his career, everything he had ever been proud of – they had made fun of it all, and not until now did the twins realize what they had done to him. But by far the worst part, was that they would never be able to make it up to him again, or as much as apologize for what they had said and done for all those years. 

"But we're done now, right?" George asked, sniffing and quickly wiping his face with his hand. They then shared a look. "No more picking. Not on Ron, nor Ginny, nor anyone." 

"And what about the joke shop?" Silence returned for a brief moment, and George broke eye contact, shaking his head.  

"Jokes are supposed to make people laugh, not feel humiliated. Just look at Percy; we made everyone laugh _at_ him, and now he's gone and he still hasn't laughed." His eyes wore a haunting look, and were bloodshot red and wet as he turned back to share a look with his clone. Dark circles had formed underneath them, and his lips were dry and cracked. "I'm just asking for us to draw the line, and learn something from how we treated Percy. That is the least we could do for him now." Fred nodded as a response – silently – and wiped away a falling tear, followed by a long, deep breath.  

"You've got a good heart, I must admit," He spoke, smiling shortly, and got back up from the stairs. He looked up at the dark skies, not sure what to think. He felt restless and exhausted at the same time, not knowing what to do to himself anymore. Every part of his body was aching, he had lost his brother, and the war was not even over yet. It felt like everything had gone wrong, even though it had not. 

George ran his hands through his hair before getting up to join his brother, but before he got the chance to walk over to him, Fred turned around, giving him a hug. They did not need to speak, for they knew exactly how the other was feeling. The whole situation felt so unreal, as if it was a dream that they would wake up from the next morning. But sadly, George knew that he would not wake up from this nightmare.  

They twins let go of each other after a short moment, and proceeded to stand in silence and look up at the skies. They were deep in thought, trying their best to stay optimistic and find motivation to get through the rest of the war. At least they still had each other to keep company. 

After the war had ended, the twins agreed that from then on, they would become a better set of people. They did keep their joke shop, but pranks, on the other hand, became a rare activity. Their family had noticed a massive change in them, as both Fred and George had been quieter, and behaved much more politely now than before. Losing Percy had affected them a lot, and made them think more of others. They had learnt to care more, and joke less. Whether they were overwhelmed by guilt or if it was common sense, they did not know. All they knew, was that Percy had not been the person they had made him out to be, and that they realized this firstly when it was too late. One never knows when someone dear will get lost, and when someone dear is lost, one can never take back what has been said. 

That was the lesson that Fred and George Weasley had learnt, and had sworn to _always_ hold close to their hearts.


End file.
